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​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission COSO) is a joint initiative of the five private sector organizations listed on the left and is dedicated to providing thought leadership through the development of frameworks and guidance on enterprise risk management, internal control and fraud deterrence. We hope you will find the information on this site to be helpful and we welcome your input.​​

2017 ERM Framework Update​​

The 2017 update to the
Enter​prise Risk Management — Integrated Framework​ addresses the evolution of enterprise risk management and the need for organizations to improve their approach to managing risk to meet the demands of an evolving business environment. The updated document,
Enterprise Risk Management — Integrating with Strategy and Performance, highlights the importance of considering risk in both the strategy-setting process and in driving performance. For more information or to purchase the updated
Framework,
c​lick here.

What's N​​ew

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) released today the final version of “Guidance for Applying Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)-related Risks.” This guidance, which aligns with COSO’s widely accepted Enterprise Risk Management — Integrating with Strategy and Performance, is intended to bring ESG risks and opportunities into a clearer focus for mainstream business and other organizations around the world. It is designed to enhance organizations’ resiliency as they confront the increasing prevalence and severity of ESG-related risks, ranging from extreme weather events to product safety recalls.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) today announced the release of an important supplement to Enterprise Risk Management – Integrating with Strategy and Performance, with detailed examples for applying principles from the updated ERM Framework to day-to-day practices.

Authored by PwC under the direction of the COSO Board, the new Compendium of Examples recognizes the connection between concepts and applications of ERM. Each illustration in the compendium was developed from industry practices identified through extensive research, including interviews and case studies.

COSO announces the COSO Enterprise Risk Management Certificate. The program offers strategy, finance, accounting, auditing, risk management and other business professionals the opportunity to earn a certificate in the
COSO ERM Framework.

The COSO ERM Certificate is geared toward professionals who play a risk management role in entities of any size, consultants who provide advisory services related to enterprise risk management, and board members who provide oversight of enterprise risk management.

The course is offered only through COSO’s five sponsoring organizations: American Accounting Association (AAA), American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Financial Executives International (FEI), IMA (Institute of Management Accountants), and The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA).

COSO, WBCSD Release New Draft Guidance on Environmental, Social and Governance-related Risks

COSO and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) released at GreenBiz 2018 a draft Guidance for applying Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)-related risks. The supplemental draft Guidance is designed to help organizations worldwide respond to the increasing prevalence and severity of ESG-related risks, ranging from extreme weather events to product safety recalls. COSO and WBCSD are seeking public comment on the draft Gu​idance and the previously released Executive Summary through June 30, 2018. Comment letters may be provided to
risk@wbcsd.org​. A consultation survey also will be available soon through the COSO website.

COSO has named Paul Sobel, Vice President and Chief Audit Executive at Georgia-Pacific LLC, as its new Chairman. His appointment to a three-year term is effective Feb. 1. Sobel, CIA, QIAL, CRMA, is recognized as a leading expert on governance, enterprise risk management, compliance, and internal control. He was selected as Chairman because of his extensive background along with his experience in corporate environments and professional service firms. Sobel succeeds Robert B. Hirth Jr., who served as COSO chairman since 2013.

COSO, WBCSD Release Draft on Environmental, Social and Governance-related Risks

COSO partners with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in releasing a draft executive summary about new, cutting-edge guidance, "Applying Enterprise Risk Management to Environmental, Social and Governance-related Risks." The guidance will help organizations worldwide respond to the increasing prevalence and severity of ESG-related risks, ranging from extreme weather events to product safety recalls. Details of a public comment period on the draft executive summary and on a draft of the full application guidance will be available in the coming weeks.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) is seeking applications for the position of Board Chair. The Chair is responsible for leading COSO in fulfilling its mission of providing thought leadership dealing with enterprise risk management, internal control and fraud deterrence. Candidates may submit​ a letter of interest along with a current resume of qualifications by the position application close date of Oct. 27, 2017.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) released its highly anticipated ERM Framework:
Enterprise Risk Management —​ Integrating with Strategy and Performance. This new document builds on its predecessor,
Enterprise Risk Management — Integrated Framework, one of the most widely recognized and applied risk management frameworks in the world. The updated edition is designed to help organizations create, preserve, and realize value while improving their approach to managing risk.

Recognizing the benefits of mutual cooperation to their respective members and for business in general, The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) recently completed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at working together to help businesses identify and prioritize issues related to sustainability and enterprise risk management.​​

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) is completing its evaluation of public exposure comments regarding an update to the 2004
Enterprise Risk Management — Integrated Framework, one of the most widely recognized and applied risk management frameworks in the world. The exposure draft received more than 40,000 views from individuals and organizations around the world. Those comments have been carefully reviewed by project lead PricewaterhouseCoopers, in collaboration with the COSO board of directors and its advisory council comprising representatives from industry, academia, government agencies and not-for-profit organizations. The updated
Framework is expected to be released in mid-2017.​​

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) announces launch of a self-study, on-demand learning program toward earning the COSO Internal Control Certificate. The program is being offered by The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) plans to offer the course in January. The on-demand learning program is geared to internal auditors, accountants, and other financial professionals, allowing candidates to demonstrate expertise in designing, implementing, and monitoring a system of internal control using COSO’s updated 2013
Internal Control — Integrated Framework.​​

​COSO has concluded its call for public comment to the proposed update to its ERM Framework:
Enterprise Risk Management — Aligning Risk with Strategy and Performance. Written comments submitted to date will become part of the public record and will be av​ailable on the COSO ERM website through Dec. 15, 2016.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) announces the release of the
Fraud Risk Management Guide, a new research report that offers a blueprint for helping organizations to establish an overall fraud risk-management program. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) is a co-sponsor of the project.

COSO is continuing a call for public comment to the proposed update for its
Enterprise Risk Management
— Integrated Framework. Unveiled June 14th,
Enterprise Risk Management — Aligning Risk with Strategy and Performance is designed to address the evolving needs of all organizations to improve their approach to managing new and existing risks as a way to help create, preserve, sustain and realize value. The comment period will end September 30th.

​The Committee of Spon​​soring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) has unveiled an update to its
Enterprise Risk Management
— Integrated Framework and is seeking public comment of the proposal, from June 15 through Sept. 30. The update,
Enterprise Risk Management — Aligning Risk wi​th Strategy and Performance, is designed to address the needs of all organizations to improve their approach to managing new and existing risks as a way to help create, preserve, sustain, and realize value.

Faculty and students at post-secondary academic institutions now have an option for low-cost, online access to one of the world’s most widely used frameworks for designing and implementing internal control programs, the COSO
Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013).

In a joint initiative, The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) and the American Accounting Association (AAA) are making the framework and associated compendium bundle available for a $250 annual institutional fee. The AAA, one of the COSO’s five sponsoring organizations, will provide direct services to participating accounting and business departments through its Academic Access program.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) today announced an Internal Control Certificate Program that offers financial professionals, including internal auditors and CPAs, the opportunity to earn a professional certificate in the 2013 COSO
Internal Control — Integrated Framework.

The program is a combination of self-paced learning and a hands-on workshop, followed by an online examination. Upon successful completion of all three components, candidates will receive an official COSO certificate that demonstrates their ability to design and implement an effective system of internal control utilizing the
COSO Internal Control — Integrated Framework.

In
Leveraging COSO Across the Three Lines of Defense, authors Douglas J. Anderson and Gina Eubanks make a strong case for using the Three Lines of Defense Model, which addresses how specific duties related to risk and control should be assigned and coordinated.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) announced the appointed group of advisors and observers for the project to review and update the 2004
Enterprise Risk Management — Integrated Framework (Framework). The group is made up of representatives from leading professional service, technological, legal, academic and public organizations.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) today announced the release of
COSO in the Cyber Age, a thought leadership paper that provides direction on how the
Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) and the
Enterprise Risk Management — Integrated Framework (2004) can help organizations effectively and efficiently evaluate and manage cyber risks.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) today announced its 2013
Internal Control — Integrated Framework has been translated into Russian. The
Framework is now available in eight languages.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) today launched an online sur​vey for its current project to review and update the 2004
Enterprise Risk Management – Integrated Framework (Framework). The survey, created by the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) project team, seeks input and feedback from interested parties and is designed to capture views and insights regarding the current Framework and to collect suggestions for improvements.

The
Framework, originally published in 2004, is a widely accepted framework used by management to enhance an organization’s ability to manage uncertainty and to consider how much risk to accept as it strives to increase stakeholder value.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) today announced a project to review and update the 2004
Enterprise Risk Management — Integrated Framework (Framework). The
Framework, originally published in 2004, is a widely accepted framework used by management to enhance an organization’s ability to manage uncertainty and to consider how much risk to accept as it strives to increase stakeholder value.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) announced today the release of a new thought paper, Improving Organizational Performance and Governance: How the COSO Frameworks Can Help, developed to illustrate how the enterprise risk management (ERM) and internal control frameworks can contribute to enhancing organizational performance and governance for sustainable success.

In response to today’s highly competitive markets and the growing number of organizations integrating sustainability into their business operations, the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) and Ernst & Young LLP (EY) have published a new thought paper titled
Demystifying Sustainability Risk: Integrating the Triple Bottom Line into an Enterprise Risk Management Program. The thought paper leverages COSO’s
Enterprise Risk Management — Integrated Framework to offer insight on how organizations can develop interrelated strategies and objectives across the enterprise that create a strong context for risk consideration, and references.

COSO has issued an article aimed at assisting public companies comply with Section 404 of the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The article outlines an example of one approach to transitioning to COSO’s 2013
Internal Control — ​Integrated Framework (Framework) from the original
Framework published in 1992.

Leading Risk Management and Internal Control Professional Robert Hirth Named New Chairman of COSO

COSO has named Robert B. Hirth Jr. as its new Chairman for a three-year term effective today. A prolific thought leader, renowned risk management and internal control professional, Hirth was selected for this position after a four-month extensive search. Hirth succeeds David L. Landsittel, CPA, who has served as COSO chairman since 2009.

COSO has issued the 2013
Internal Control — Integrated Framework (Framework). The
Framework published in 1992 is recognized as the leading guidance for designing, implementing and conducting internal control and assessing its effectiveness. The 2013
Framework is expected to help organizations design and implement internal control in light of many changes in business and operating environments since the issuance of the original
Framework, broaden the application of internal control in addressing operations and reporting objectives, and clarify the requirements for determining what constitutes effective internal control.

COSO has also issued Illustrative Tools for Assessing Effectiveness of a System of Internal Control and the
Internal Control over External Financial Reporting (ICEFR): A Compendium of Approaches and Examples. The
Illustrative Tools are expected to assist users when assessing whether a system of internal control meets the requirements set forth in the updated
Framework. The
ICEFR Compendium is particularly relevant to those who prepare financial statements for external purposes based upon requirements set forth in the updated
Framework.

User Disclaimer

​This website contains general information only, and none of COSO, any of its constituent organizations or any of the authors of the contents provided herein is rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax or other professional advice or services in connection with such content. Information contained herein is not a substitute for such professional advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Views, opinions or interpretations expressed herein may differ from those of relevant regulators, self-regulatory organizations or other authorities and may reflect laws, regulations or practices that are subject to change over time.

Evaluation of the information contained herein is the sole responsibility of the user. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business with respect to materials provided on this website, you should consult with relevant qualified professional advisors. COSO, its constituent organizations and the authors expressly disclaim any liability for any error, omission or inaccuracy contained herein, any content linked to this website or any loss sustained by any person who relies on materials provided in or linked to this website.